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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]Babysitters over the age of 18 who work out of the parents' home, using the parents' equipment, food, and supplies, during hours set by the parents and subject to the parents' direction as to things like naptimes, bedtimes, what to feed the kids, etc. are employees as a matter of common law, even if they only work on an occasional basis and earn less than $1800 per year from a particular employer.  Occasional babysitters who work under those circumstances but call themselves independent contractors don't understand the relevant law.  The exception is babysitters who are actually employees of a service or agency that gets paid by the family and then redirects part of that pay to the sitter.

The parents' obligation to withhold taxes and pay employer payroll taxes on top of that doesn't kick in unless the $1800 annual threshold is met, but that doesn't change the fact that the nanny is an employee.  Also, occasional babysitters are required to track and pay federal and state income tax on all their babysitting earnings, whether they meet the $1800 threshold or not.  The only tax that an occasional babysitter can lawfully avoid by getting paid less than $1800 per family is FICA.

So, 17:34, your criticism of the parents' desire to pay you on the books is misplaced here, because your tax obligations are the same either way.  What you are really saying is that tax-evading babysitters keep more of their income than babysitters who don't evade their tax obligations.  That's true as long as you don't get caught, but you may want to avoid calling others "rigid, complicated, and cheap" for not wanting to assist you in tax evasion.  [/quote]

Yeah, I'm sure the IRS is looking out for occasional sitters who aren't reporting income. Such criminals they are  :roll:  [/quote]

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